Horror Story: M&P 10 and S&W Customer Service

Status
Not open for further replies.
No worries...

henschmen,

I just want to be clear that your beef with S&W is that they do not support their rifle with available parts for repair. That your beef is not that you think that S&W should be held responsible for the barrel split?
 
henschman said:
Like I said, if you don't believe me, call S&W, tell them you would like to buy an M&P 10 barrel, and see what they say. 1-800-331-0852.

I can't take pics because S&W still has my rifle. see my post above.. all I want to do is buy a barrel. But apparently they would rather allocate them all to production than sell one to an existing customer who has no other way to fix his rifle.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you totaled your gun and you want a new barrel. I get it. Kinda like some one totals a car and wants to buy new brakes for it. I would be surprised if you get your gun back in its existing form.
 
Sure, if they want to be the kind of company that just offers the bare minimum warranty against things you can prove are defects in workmanship or materials, that's their business. But failing to support their current production products is much worse in my mind.
 
I was very surprised when I checks Brownell's, and found most currently available parts for all the S&W revolvers & auto pistols.

But not even a Rifle section for any of the M&P rifles, .308, or .223.

So it seems they don't sell parts for any of the rifles.

Guess I will cross those off my list and stick with my crummy old Colts.

rc
 
Sounds like you totaled your gun and you want a new barrel. I get it. Kinda like some one totals a car and wants to buy new brakes for it. I would be surprised if you get your gun back in its existing form.
Click to expand...
If I haven't made it clear enough, I am not looking to get something for nothing. I have a broken gun and I want to buy a part from the only people who make it. And since they have made it clear that they won't sell me one, I want to warn all of you about them so you won't make the same mistake I did, by buying a rifle with proprietary parts from a company who won't sell them if you need one.
 
Shades of Bangor Punta

Yeah, the distillation of the issues is that S&W won't support their product. After having such good experience with them over the years with pistols, it is a real disappointment. I had seriously considered that rifle, but just wasn't ready to supplant my M14 yet (my first Army weapon & they're just part of me). I will get a 7.62 AR style rifle in the next year or two, but it certainly won't be a S&W. Good luck regardless
:cool:
 
While I am skeptical of the matter as it has been submitted here S&W may yet have an issue with material support for all current products. We just don't know.

A clear explanation as to why the barrel will not be made available has not been forthcoming.
 
By the way, if you are calling for service, I don't think that you have exhausted your options. You called until you reached a senior guy who cited policy. Call until you get someone who sets policy. That's where you'll find the power to bypass policy.
 
I wish I had bought mine for 999. Just because one barrel splits doesnt mean the rifles are bad. I split the barrel on a 870 one time , doesnt mean 870's are bad. SW is a big company with little regard for going the extra mile for an individual customer. I have experience with them too. They treated me OK but if they hadnt not sure I could have done anything about it.
 
dvdcrr said:
Just because one barrel splits doesnt mean the rifles are bad.
Click to expand...
Of course not. But when a barrel splits and the company refuses to either fix it or sell you a new one, it certainly means the company is bad.
 
I never thought I would be giving a lawyer advice, but here goes.........First....S&W is competing in a VERY competitive market; we know it, and believe me, THEY know it! In order for any business to survive in such a competitive market as fire arms is, they are obliged to invest tons of money on advertising; If I were you, I would invest an hour or two of my time, draw up a nice, legal sounding letter, pointing all of this out, then advising them that inasmuch as they have apparently decided to play hard-ball with you, that you will be launching an "advertising campaign" of your own. (only yours will be essentially free )

There's a huge difference between a big business like S&W "talking their products up" in all of the very costly media that they must purchase space in, and what you as an individual have at your disposal.........the entire internet! Your very negative experience with S&W's product has already cost them a considerable amount of not only money, but I'm guessing thousands of dollars worth of plain old, "ill will"; I would make "numerous copies" of my letter, and I would see to it that every T,D & H in the S&W management team received a copy of it! I believe that's the key to you prevailing in this matter; by causing a LOT of people in their upper management to become aware of this matter.

Spend a bit of time looking up as many on-line forums as you can find, and get this story into every one of them, and communicate that fact in your next letter to S&W, and FOLLOW IT UP weekly, mentioning each new forum you have made aware of this matter.

What you're communicating here is simply very poor business practices on S&W's part; every person who reads about this on a gun forum will probably negate fifty K worth of advertising budget investment by S&W, and I would continue to keep pointing that out to them OFTEN! Let these people know that it's your intention to continue making all of the many thousands of gun enthusiasts that ALL spend a considerable amount of their time on the many gun forums, aware of this ridiculous treatment by S&W; I think if you show enough determination to these people, that before this is all over with they will be begging you to "accept" a brand new rifle if you'll just "cease and desist" in you efforts. When it gets to that point, I would remind them of all of the valuable time that you have been obliged to spend pursuing this matter and let them know that you need to be compensated for it. Good luck!
 
I am extremely surprised they are sending the rifle back. Another one of S&W's policies is not to send any firearms back to the owner unless it's in safe operating condition. I have heard of owners sending guns to them they said can't be repaired but refused to send them back because they were not safe. I guess you got "lucky" they are at least sending the gun back to you. Maybe in the future Numrich will have a barrel available and you can fix the rifle.
 
I am extremely surprised that any off the shelf AR-10 barrel can't be screwed on the barrel extension and head spaced to the bolt..

It's not like they invented the whole gun from scratch.

rc
 
Sure, if they want to be the kind of company that just offers the bare minimum warranty against things you can prove are defects in workmanship or materials,
Click to expand...

What is your proof???
 
sappyg said:
Sounds like you totaled your gun and you want a new barrel. I get it. Kinda like some one totals a car and wants to buy new brakes for it. I would be surprised if you get your gun back in its existing form.
Click to expand...
A split barrel is far from parallel to a totalled car and new brakes. Let's say a blown rear end; maybe a defect, maybe too much skinny pedal by the owner. The part needs to be fixed to be used again, the dealership denies warranty, won't sell you the part either, and nobody makes aftermarket parts. Otherwise the car/rifle is ready to go when the parts get sorted out.
 
I had a serious issue with a Sig Rifle and posted here and on several other boards about it.
When I got to finally talk to one of the folks a bit higher up the food chain than the guy on the phone, he was very aware of the issue and even knew my name on the boards.
They made a lot more effort to make it right from that point forward.
Be that rock in his boot and let everyone know about your issue. This kind of PR gains attention.
 
And, in the FWIW category, the barrel extensions between Armalite pattern and DPMS/KA pattern AR-10s are identical. I can't see why any old AR10/LR barrel wouldn't work.

AFAIK, the only truly unique 308 class AR barrel extension is the DPMS G2.
 
Charley C said:
I never thought I would be giving a lawyer advice, but here goes.........First....S&W is competing in a VERY competitive market; we know it, and believe me, THEY know it! In order for any business to survive in such a competitive market as fire arms is, they are obliged to invest tons of money on advertising; If I were you, I would invest an hour or two of my time, draw up a nice, legal sounding letter, pointing all of this out, then advising them that inasmuch as they have apparently decided to play hard-ball with you, that you will be launching an "advertising campaign" of your own. (only yours will be essentially free )

There's a huge difference between a big business like S&W "talking their products up" in all of the very costly media that they must purchase space in, and what you as an individual have at your disposal.........the entire internet! Your very negative experience with S&W's product has already cost them a considerable amount of not only money, but I'm guessing thousands of dollars worth of plain old, "ill will"; I would make "numerous copies" of my letter, and I would see to it that every T,D & H in the S&W management team received a copy of it! I believe that's the key to you prevailing in this matter; by causing a LOT of people in their upper management to become aware of this matter.

Spend a bit of time looking up as many on-line forums as you can find, and get this story into every one of them, and communicate that fact in your next letter to S&W, and FOLLOW IT UP weekly, mentioning each new forum you have made aware of this matter.

What you're communicating here is simply very poor business practices on S&W's part; every person who reads about this on a gun forum will probably negate fifty K worth of advertising budget investment by S&W, and I would continue to keep pointing that out to them OFTEN! Let these people know that it's your intention to continue making all of the many thousands of gun enthusiasts that ALL spend a considerable amount of their time on the many gun forums, aware of this ridiculous treatment by S&W; I think if you show enough determination to these people, that before this is all over with they will be begging you to "accept" a brand new rifle if you'll just "cease and desist" in you efforts. When it gets to that point, I would remind them of all of the valuable time that you have been obliged to spend pursuing this matter and let them know that you need to be compensated for it. Good luck!
Click to expand...
That's extortion and not ok in my book. If he does do those things and they offer him something for free, the ethical thing would be to not take any freebies. But he should follow up that they did offer and would be OK to buy a barrel if they finally offered to sell him one.
 
When the OP originally mentioned "the ring all around the bore", "the strange ring in the rifle's bore," it sounded like he was trying to posit that as the cause of the barrel split, hence a manufacturing defect. "I never dropped the rifle, or pushed it into the ground..."

Has the position drifted from replacing a defective barrel under warranty to not being able to buy a barrel to replace one split due to possible operator error? By post #46 the position has changed to, "However, I do not doubt that the barrel split because of some kind of obstruction. I realize that it is possible I did something to cause it, and I don't care whether S&W fixes it for free... all I want to do is buy a barrel."

Personally, I'd want to see more clarity on this before throwing S&W under the bus.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like the replacement barrel issue is solved... If the only issue is a new barrel get one and be done with it, go shoot.
 
As mentioned before. The barrel did not split due to a defect on SW part. There is more to the "story" The AR 10 is relatively new to SW. They do not have extra barrels laying around. All inventory is dedicated to the production line.

AR 10's from what I know, are not "Mil Spec", different brands are all a bit . well, different.

Without know all the details from SW it is impossible to say what is going on. As I mentioned in a previous thread I had a bad as inaccurate barrel on my AR 15. They simply replaced the whole upper. They stated they do not replace barrels as it it is more costly. Easier and cheaper to just put on a new upper (on a AR 15)

I just hate to see SW bashed for poor service when in fact they have some of the best in the business. Yes, I have dealt with them many, many times.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
M&P 10 and S&W Customer Service Horror Story UPDATE
Replies
2
Views
805
Welding Rod
W
A
  • Locked
The S&W M&P 15 PC
Replies
0
Views
440
Apex29
A
H
  • Locked
Got my M&P 10 to run on 7.62... drilled gas port
Replies
7
Views
2K
henschman
H
sarduy
  • Locked
M-52?
Replies
13
Views
706
Gator
G
stoky
  • Locked
M&P 15/22’S problems at Appleseed(s)
Replies
15
Views
3K
Llama Bob
Llama Bob
Back
Top